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scans_dailyAnd by Huntress, I mean the Huntress identity not the woman behind the mask. We already know the story of the woman behind the mask. Mostly.
We begin with our story four years into the past, where a 17-year-old Helena Wayne goes to pick up her Huntress costume, which she had custom made in Metropolis:
I do wonder where Karen and Helena find people they can easily *trust* with their secret identities, especially since surely Sade here would've recognised the Huntress costume on telly as soon as Helena's exploits got large enough to get noticed by INTERPOL?
Anyway, onto Helena's first official night as the Huntress, which once again starts off with doe-eyed women being rescued from misogynistic men by the Huntress (which has become something of a trope at this point with Helena's narrative):
While I do get that the message here is that misogyny is a serious problem that needs to be combatted (and Huntress does a good job at doing that *literally*), at the same time, however, consistent portrayal of Helena as a woman who has a low opinion of men (and especially one who enjoys hurting men whenever she can) is getting dangerously close to straw feminism, and even moreso since she did later (unnecessarily) stomp that same guy in the nads while he was already down and unconscious.
The fact that she has yet to be seen interacting with a male character (aside from her own father and Damian) in a meaningful way who isn't a gross misogynist that she beats up is especially troubling since it does nothing to counterbalance the fact, nor does it do anything to demonstrate that she does acknowledge that non-misogynistic men who actually do respect women exist as well. There's also the fact that Helena consistently responds to violence towards women with aggressive violence towards men while failing to actually address the problem at hand. I hope Levitz eventually becomes aware of this as he writes.
We begin with our story four years into the past, where a 17-year-old Helena Wayne goes to pick up her Huntress costume, which she had custom made in Metropolis:
I do wonder where Karen and Helena find people they can easily *trust* with their secret identities, especially since surely Sade here would've recognised the Huntress costume on telly as soon as Helena's exploits got large enough to get noticed by INTERPOL?
Anyway, onto Helena's first official night as the Huntress, which once again starts off with doe-eyed women being rescued from misogynistic men by the Huntress (which has become something of a trope at this point with Helena's narrative):
While I do get that the message here is that misogyny is a serious problem that needs to be combatted (and Huntress does a good job at doing that *literally*), at the same time, however, consistent portrayal of Helena as a woman who has a low opinion of men (and especially one who enjoys hurting men whenever she can) is getting dangerously close to straw feminism, and even moreso since she did later (unnecessarily) stomp that same guy in the nads while he was already down and unconscious.
The fact that she has yet to be seen interacting with a male character (aside from her own father and Damian) in a meaningful way who isn't a gross misogynist that she beats up is especially troubling since it does nothing to counterbalance the fact, nor does it do anything to demonstrate that she does acknowledge that non-misogynistic men who actually do respect women exist as well. There's also the fact that Helena consistently responds to violence towards women with aggressive violence towards men while failing to actually address the problem at hand. I hope Levitz eventually becomes aware of this as he writes.
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Date: 2013-02-07 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 12:30 am (UTC)Or Dick Grayson/Nightwing. But I don't necessarily mean THAT kind of "meaningful interaction" because seriously, just have Helena and Karen make out and get it out there.
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Date: 2013-02-07 01:01 am (UTC)basically what I'm saying is love of money and power can just as easily explain these men forcing women into prostitution as hatred of women.
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Date: 2013-02-07 01:41 am (UTC)If you're unclear about something I wrote, I would prefer if you just asked for clarification than to assume I don't know what misogyny is. I found this comment rather patronising in a way that insults my intelligence.
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Date: 2013-02-07 02:56 am (UTC)That's really depressing to just cut out Helena B's entire history - how many important storylines were there that had her in them...it's just...weird.
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Date: 2013-02-07 04:14 am (UTC)I get that it's completely illogical to treat Wayne and Bertinelli as the same character (I myself don't), but all of this actually goes back to the first reboot alone where Helena Bertinelli was originally created with the intention of completely rebooting Helena Wayne for the post-Crisis continuity. It is for this reason exactly that the Huntress kept the name of Helena, a variation of the original Helena Wayne costume, including her trademark colours and crossbow, as well as roughly the same physical appearance. It is the exact same thing that was done to both Fury and Power Girl before the latter got her original Earth-2 origin back.
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Date: 2013-02-07 09:27 am (UTC)It's either that or why is it even spoken aloud if it has to be said at all? Helena could just have a simple 'No. Not whores. Not now, not ever' narration box or two that would make so much more sense than her almost seeming to banter with the guy.
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Date: 2013-02-07 09:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-02-07 02:18 pm (UTC)